1 All-year swimmers don’t wear wetsuits. That defeats the purpose.
2 You will never have enough warm clothes. You need many more things than you think you might need, to recover after a cold swim. Thermals, fleeces, your thickest jackets, woolly hats, gloves, socks and scarves. And you won’t want to take them off all day. It’s a pretty strong look.
3 Pool shoes are essential. They will make tiptoeing into and out of cold water more bearable: even a small amount of insulation against the cold ground helps. When you get out of the water, you won’t be able to feel your feet enough to manage flip-flops, so slip-on shoes are preferable.
4 Never jump or dive into freezing cold water. Step in slowly, splash your face and chest with cold water, and submerge your hands. Then breathe slowly and calmly submerge yourself.
5 The first two minutes in the water are the worst. Your body is adjusting to the shock of the cold. Rookie swimmers panic and get out during this bit and never experience the magical moments after you have calmed down.
6 Cold-water swimming isn’t about getting fit. It’s about feeling alive. It’s a watery adrenaline rush that will make you feel invincible. It’s addictive.
7 Plan how you’re going to get dressed. When you get out of cold water, you need to get dry, get dressed and get warm very quickly and efficiently. That means leaving your clothes laid out in the order you’ll need to put them on again – because you’ll be too cold to think. Bundle up and then move around to heat up naturally. You should never be tempted to recover by having a hot shower; it can cause a dramatic drop in blood pressure and exacerbate the effects of hypothermia.
8 Flasks of hot drink are essential for post-swim recovery. As is cake.
9 Only cold-water swimmers know what cold is. The normal people you see bundled up in coats, scarves and hats commuting to work in winter, who think it’s cold, are wrong. Cold is stripping off and submerging yourself into 2C water, so your skin is burning and turns bright pink. Cold is shocking pain, and your breath being taken away in gasps. Cold is mad and exhilarating and amazing.
10 The friends you meet in cold water are the best. They think nothing of stripping off in the snow for a fix. They are adventurous, full of life and quick to laugh. They sparkle like the icy water they inhabit.